Children: Protection

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what measures are in place to ensure that assessments of risk to children undertaken by local authorities assess all close family members.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government's statutory guidance "Working Together to Safeguard Children" (2006) sets out the processes to be followed when undertaking an assessment of a child who is suspected to be suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm. That assessment will include consideration of the capacity of the parents' or caregivers' to respond appropriately to the identified needs of the child. This may involve interviews with the child's parents or caregivers and with those known to the child, for example members of the wider family. It may also include interviews with professionals or other people who know the child's parents or caregivers.

Children's Centres: Eltham

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding his Department has allocated in respect of children's centres in Eltham constituency since their introduction.

Dawn Primarolo: Greenwich local authority is responsible for Sure Start Children's Centres across its area and will decide how much funding to allocate to centres in Eltham constituency.
	The first Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLPs) were set up in 1999-2000. The SSLPs received a single capital allocation for the period 1999-2000 to 2005-06. Greenwich local authority was allocated £3,913,042.
	Data on the SSLP revenue allocations prior to the introduction of the Sure Start IT system in 2003-04 is not readily available at a local authority level. Greenwich's SSLP revenue allocations from 2003-04 are shown in table 1.
	
		
			  Table 1. Sure Start Local Programme revenue allocations for Greenwich local authority 
			   £ 
			   SSLP revenue allocation 
			 2003-04 3,029,775 
			 2004-05 3,550,810 
			 2005-06 3,738,775 
			 2006-07 3,541,783 
			 2007-08 3,008,185 
			 2008-09 3,034,536 
			 2009-10 2,680,923 
		
	
	Funding for Sure Start Children's Centres was made available from 2003-04. The Children's Centres allocations for Greenwich are shown in table 2.
	
		
			  Table 2. Sure Start Children's Centres allocations for Greenwich local authority 
			  £ 
			   Capital  Revenue  Total 
			 2003-04 0 52,500 52,500 
			 2004-06(1) 3,496,687 1,318,028 4,814,715 
			 2006-07 (2)1,431,584 2,797,260 4,228,844 
			 2007-08 (2)2,889,676 2,876,399 5,766,075 
			 2008-09 378,553 4,898,580 5,277,133 
			 2009-10 781,204 6,175,905 6,957,109 
			 (1) Local authorities received a two year allocation for 2004-06. (2) The 2006-07 and 2007-08 allocations are for the wider Sure Start Early Years and Childcare Main Capital Block. 
		
	
	From 2006-07 Children's Centres Capital formed part of the wider Main Capital Funding Block. Funding in this block is not ring fenced and the authority has the freedom to decide how much of their total capital allocation to spend on children's centres, in line with local priorities. This allocation was not broken down further in 2006-07 and 2007-08. The Main Capital allocation has been quoted for 2006-07 and 2007-08 in table 1.
	The Main Capital Block included funding for child care sustainability and extended schools as well as for Children's Centres in 2006-07 and 2007-08. From 2008-09 the block comprised funding for Children's Centres, early years provision, child care and integrated projects (those which support more than one policy objective). Funding in the Main Capital Block is not ring fenced and local authorities have the freedom to decide how much to spend on children's centres in line with local priorities.

Extracurricular Activities: South West

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding was allocated for the provision of extra-curricular activities in schools in  (a) the South West and  (b) Torbay constituency in each year since 1997.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government are committed to every school providing access to a core offer of extended services, including a varied menu of extra curricular activities from 8 am to 6 pm, by 2010. My Department has provided significant funding to support the delivery of extended services, including over£1 billion in the period 2008-09 to 2010-11. The table sets out the extended services funding allocated from 2003-04, the start of the Full Service Extended School pilot, to 2010-11 for local authorities in the Government Office South West region, and Torbay.
	This funding is passed to local authorities to support the development of the core extended services offer in every school. The exact amount of funding spent on extra curricular activities, as part of supporting delivery of the broader extended services core offer, is a matter for local decision making by local authorities and schools.
	
		
			  £ 
			  Extended schools revenue  South West  Torbay 
			 2002-03 200,000 0 
			 2003-04 155,000 0 
			 2004-05 1,334,972 168,480 
			 2005-06 9,212,998 331,276 
			 2006-07 10,456,178 432,034 
			 2007-08 10,947,207 334,364 
			 2008-09 23,525,667 739,491 
			 2009-10 33,991,312 998,051 
			 2010-11 40,620,347 1,213,385 
			  Note: Funding in 2003-04 to 2005-06 was for the Full Service Extended Schools Pilot.

Families

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what funding he plans to allocate to the new support activities for families referred to in Chapter six of his Department's Green Paper, On Support for all.

Dawn Primarolo: The funding for the new support activities for families as outlined in Chapter 6 in Support for All: a Families and Relationships Green Paper has been allocated from current budgets. These include:
	£122 million on Family Intervention Projects between 2006-07 - 2010-11;
	£60 million on the Family Information Direct (formerly ParentKnowHow) programme which provides information and advice for families (including grandparents and family and friends carers) between 2008-09 - 2010-11; and
	£1.135 billion in revenue funding and £101 million in capital funding for Sure Start Children's Centres and Local Programmes in 2010-11.

Family Fund

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding was provided through the Family Fund in each of the last five years; what assessment he has made of the level of take-up of such funding by low-income families with one or more severely disabled children; and when he last met the Chief Executive of the Family Fund.

Diana Johnson: The Family Fund Trust (FFT) (England) provides grants to families with severely disabled children or young people under 18. Families are eligible to apply for grants if they have an annual income of less than £23,000 before tax. Over the last five years the FFT has received the following in grant funding from the Department:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2005/06 22.8 
			 2006/07 22.8 
			 2007/08 22.8 
			 2008/09 24.4 
			 2009/10 25.0 
		
	
	As a result of commitments in The Children's Plan, the FFT was allocated an additional £8.4 million, payable over the current CSR period; with this additional funding the FFT changed the eligibility criteria for receipt of grants to include families with disabled children/young people under 18, prior to that grants were made to families with disabled children under 16, the additional funding has been reflected in the table above.
	Since extending eligibility criteria, the FFT have awarded grants to an additional 2,586 16-year-olds in 2008-09, their target for 2009-10 is to issue between 4,750 and 5,000 grants to 16 and 17-year-olds.
	The total numbers of families helped by FFT over the last five years are as follows:
	
		
			  Family fund trust-England 
			   Number of families helped 
			 2005/06 35,740 
			 2006/07 38,857 
			 2007/08 37,007 
			 2008/09 38,889 
			 2009/10 Not available 
		
	
	The FFT is required to provide the Department with annual accounts and details of its activities during the year, which is reviewed by officials. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families last meet with the chief executive of the Family Fund Trust on 16 April 2008.

National Safeguarding Delivery Unit: Public Appointments

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will publish the curriculum vitae of the head of the national Safeguarding Delivery Unit.

Dawn Primarolo: Jacky Tiotto, the Head of the National Safeguarding Delivery Unit is a qualified social worker by profession. She has held a number of senior positions in London local authorities, and as a practitioner specialised in work with vulnerable children and those in need of protection, working in residential, field and hospital services. Most recently she was the Director for Children and Learners at the Government Office for London, having previously worked for the Department for Children, Schools and Families where she had been seconded as a deputy director leading on performance and improvement and then as a professional adviser to Lord Laming on his progress report on safeguarding children in England. Earlier posts include senior national adviser for children and adult services at the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), and performance specialist at the Audit Commission. Her CV contains personal information and its disclosure would be likely to contravene the Data Protection Act.

Non-Formal Learning

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what recent assessment his Department has made of the merits of non-formal learning; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether he plans to establish a system of formal accreditation for the non-formal learning undertaken by children outside school.

Diana Johnson: The Department believes that every young person should experience non-formal learning as an essential part of learning and personal development, whatever their age, ability or circumstances. In 2008, through the Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) manifesto, the Department funded 'Every Experience Matters'-an evidence-based review on the role of learning outside of the classroom for children's whole development from birth to 18 years.
	The report demonstrates the important role that LOtC could have in raising young people's engagement by drawing on research from around the globe and providing evidence that children achieve higher academically, have greater levels of physical fitness, increased confidence and self-esteem, show leadership qualities, and have greater engagement and motivation in learning. The report is available at
	www.lotc.org.uk
	Where a child is educated at home on a full time basis the level of formality will vary according to the wishes of the parent and the needs of the child. Some parents will adopt a more child led approach to learning while others will prefer a more formal approach or something that takes in elements of a range of different approaches. In each case the education provided must be suitable to the age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs that the child may have. It will not always be possible to distinguish between formal learning and non formal learning in this context.
	There are no plans to establish a formal system to accredit non-formal learning undertaken by children outside of school.

Olympic Games 2012: ICT

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Minister for the Olympics when she expects the London Secure Communications Network to be fully implemented.

Tessa Jowell: I refer you to the answer the Home Secretary gave on 21 October 2009,  Official Report, column 1550W.
	The implementation of the Olympic enhancements for the UK-wide Airwave radio system continues to progress according to schedule and will be ready for the 2012 Games.

Mesothelioma

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases of asbestos-related mesothelioma have been recorded in London in the last 10 years.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 28 January 2010
	The total number of mesothelioma deaths where the last residence of the deceased was recorded as being within the Government Office Region of London(1) between 1998 and 2007 (the latest year for which data are available) was 1761 (source: HSE, British Mesothelioma Register). The great majority of these will be due to asbestos exposure but there is evidence to suggest a small number of cases have some other unidentified cause.
	(1) The Government Office Region of London includes both inner and outer London boroughs.

Roads: Lighting

David Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much his Department has contributed to funding for the renewal of street lighting in each year since 1997; what guidance his Department issues on criteria for the renewal of street lighting; and if he will make a statement.

Sadiq Khan: This Department for Transport provides capital funding to local authorities for maintenance of their highways, which they can use for the renewal of their street lighting assets. The level of local transport plan funding to local authorities in England (excluding London) for highway maintenance for each year since its introduction since 2001, and its predecessor the Transport Supplementary Grant, is given as follows.
	In addition this Department has provided PFI credits for local authority street lighting projects. 24 projects are operational with a further five in procurement. The table below lists the awards to local authorities in the year they reached financial close, including awards to London authorities.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   PFI allocation  TSG/LTP capital 
			 1997-98 0 79,237 
			 1998-99 7.5 69,447 
			 1999-2000 0 211,864 
			 2000-01 0 264,396 
			 2001-02 18.6 528,004 
			 2002-03 0 544,999 
			 2003-04 166.747 545,640 
			 2004-05 121 633,778 
			 2005-06 96.765 634,409 
			 2006-07 149.9 674,164 
			 2007-08 94.911 677,035 
			 2008-09 0 701,061 
			 2009-10 332.8 735,097

Streatham

Keith Hill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to Streatham constituency, the effects on Streatham constituency of changes to his Department's policies since 1997.

Michael Wills: The Ministry of Justice's work spans criminal, civil and family justice, democracy, rights and the constitution. Every year around nine million people use our services in 900 locations across the United Kingdom, including 650 courts and tribunals and 139 prisons in England and Wales.
	The range of the Department's policies and actions is wide and the statistical information relating to it is not normally collected on a constituency basis. Consequently, some of the information requested in the question cannot be provided in the form requested except at a disproportionate cost.
	Although data on sentencing for the period are not available for the constituency of Streatham, it is available for London. These shows an increase in the total number of offenders sentenced annually from 202,478 in 1997 to 226,891 in 2007, the latest period for which such information is available.
	Likewise, the number of offences brought to justice for the London area increased from 122,500 in 2001-02 (the earliest period since which such data have has been compiled) to 230,000 in 2007-08.
	With regard to prosecutions, data are not available for the constituency of Streatham. However, the total number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts by the Metropolitan police increased from 260,328 in 1997 to 265,709 in 2007.
	Although data on reoffending are not available for the constituency of Streatham, it is available for the borough of Lambeth The latest data, which cover reoffending in the period 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009, showed that the three month reoffending rate for offenders on the probation caseload in Lambeth was 8.05 per cent. After controlling for changes in the characteristics of offenders on the probation caseload, there was a reduction in reoffending of 6.88 per cent compared to the 2007-08 baseline. Data are not available prior to 2007 on this basis.
	The number of persons commencing supervision by the Probation Service in London was 16,019 in 1997 and 22,233 in 2008.
	158,440 civil non-family proceedings were started in the county courts of London Civil and Family HM Courts Service (HMCS) area in 2008, compared to 263,305 in 1998, the first year for which these figures are available. In respect of family law, there were also 15,512 private law applications and 870 public law applications made in the county or High Courts of this HMCS area in 2008-09, compared to 11,684 and 1,095 respectively in 2003-04, the first annual period for which these figures are available.
	In addition, at a national level:
	Local communities are being better engaged in criminal justice by giving them a say in the types of Community Payback projects offenders carry out and allowing them to see justice being done, for example through the use of high visibility jackets. Offenders have now worked more than 14 million hours, with an estimated value to the taxpayer of over £80 million.
	Major constitutional reforms have been delivered, including devolution, the Human Rights Act, Freedom of Information, Lords Reform, and a new Supreme Court for the UK.

Terrorism

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people convicted of offences under anti-terrorism legislation have been released on  (a) automatic unconditional release.  (b) automatic conditional release and  (c) discretionary conditional release in each of the last 12 months.

David Hanson: For prisoners to be released unconditionally, they must have served a sentence of less than 12 months. For prisoners to be automatically released with conditions, they must have served a sentence of 12 months or more.
	To be released on a discretionary conditional basis, prisoners will have served a sentence of four years or more for offences committed prior to 4 April 2005 or be subject to an extended sentence under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 imposed prior to 14 July 2008. Discretionary release is on the recommendation of the Parole Board.
	Data on releases of prisoners having served sentences under anti-terrorism legislation or terrorism related offences for 2007-08 and 2008-09 was published in the Home Office statistical bulletins on terrorism arrests and outcomes. This data, however, does not show a monthly figure for releases. Both bulletins may be found at the following address:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/terrorism.html

Human Trafficking

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 20 January 2010,  Official Report, column 414W, on people trafficking, to what overseas projects and non-governmental organisations tackling human trafficking, forced labour and child labour his department provides support.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) is providing the following support to overseas projects and non-governmental organisations tackling human trafficking, forced labour and child labour:
	$5.8 million to the International Labour Organisation's (ILO's) project on Building a Global Alliance against Forced Labour and Human Trafficking. DFID support has enabled ILO to produce authoritative data on forced and migrant labour, provide training and guidance to labour administration officials and other law enforcement officers, and run projects tackling forced labour and trafficking in many of countries.
	£1.4 million to Anti-Slavery International's Slavery and Child Labour: Governance and Social Responsibility project, which seeks to combat the worst forms of child labour in six countries.
	£1.6 million to the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) to improve the incomes, working conditions and respect for the rights of millions of poor workers who are employed by suppliers of ETI member companies. All member companies agree to adopt the 'Base Code of Labour Practice' which prohibits forced labour and child labour.
	In Bangladesh DFID has also supported the establishment of a specialised police unit for combating human trafficking.

Civil Service: Location

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the suitability of the West Midlands as an area to which civil service posts could be relocated.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 16 December 2009
	The Lyons' review of 2004 suggested that a Government relocation programme could generate savings over a 15 year period and demonstrated the positive impact that well planned relocations can have on local economies.
	Pre-Budget report 2009 announced that nearly 21,000 posts had been moved out of London and the South East by June 2009. Of these, 2,069 have been relocated to the West Midlands.
	"Smarter Government", published in December 2009, went further and announced that Ian Smith would lead a review to look at the efficiencies that moving further posts might bring, outlining how at least 10 per cent. of all civil service posts currently based in London and the South East can be relocated in the medium term.
	The terms of reference I have agreed for this review are to produce recommendations on:
	Generating savings through relocating further civil service posts out of London and the South East, where there is no operational reason for being there, together with specific proposals to ensure relocation directly contributes to regional and local economic regeneration;
	Delivering a step change in the transparency of Government relocations, involving both the development of a transparent long-term pipeline, and launch of a new forum to regularly bring together local areas and OGC to structure relocation propositions that deliver better value for money;
	The mechanisms that could be developed to relocate at least 10 per cent. of current posts in the medium term, building on the current Relocation Programme which was created following Sir Michael Lyons' report in 2004;
	What Departments need to do to be able to make the most of opportunities to rationalise their London and South East estate;
	How Government can manage its estate more effectively to reduce barriers to relocating staff, while ensuring that up-front costs are minimised; and
	What mechanisms and incentives can be introduced to ensure that any relocation programme is self-sustaining and on-going.
	The review should also aim to deliver a specific, significant relocation example in time for Budget, demonstrating the seriousness of the Government's intent.